Main Avenue slims down, becomes pedestrian-friendly

Thomas Rhlik, Zach Hoekman and Matt Wilcox paint a pedestrian buffer along Main Avenue in Sioux Falls on Thursday. Main Avenue is now two lanes but still a one-way.
(Photo:
Emily Spartz / Argus Leader
)

In five years, Main Avenue in downtown Sioux Falls might look a lot like the popular shopping and dining stretch of Phillips Avenue.

That’s what city Director of Community Development Darrin Smith predicts.

It got a bit closer Friday as the city rolled out a project they’re calling the Main Avenue Road Diet, which aims to make the street more walkable and inviting for those who want to take a break on a sidewalk bench or dine out on a restaurant patio.

The city added parking barriers, planters, benches and other features for a pilot project that will last through at least October. Between Sixth and 14th streets, traffic lanes were reduced from three down to two, and the far left-hand lane was converted into free, 90-minute angled parking.

Orange painted areas at the intersection are meant to give pedestrians a shorter distance to cross and encourage drivers to take wider turns.

City staff will gather input and do traffic studies in the meantime as they decide whether it’s the right answer for the busy north-south street.

“It needs something compared to Phillips,” said Tom Klinkel, who moved away 30 years ago but traveled from Vail, Ariz., to visit family. He and Lindsay Hirsh were taking in the Sculpture Walk on Friday afternoon.

“We enjoy Phillips very much,” Hirsh said. “It’s a great addition to the city to have another place like it.”

Danielle Bourgerie likes the free parking. She works at the Lutheran Social Services Center for New Americans on Main. It gives clients a chance to stop in quick without plugging a meter, she said.

Replacing parallel parking with angled slots, the city was able to add space for another 80 vehicles.

“It was quick and easy,” Erica Brenner said after pulling into a spot near 10th Street. She and friends had just finished a meal at the Phillips Avenue Diner and were planning to walk and shop downtown.

“What you’re looking at is the future of Main Avenue,” Smith said at a news conference Friday at the newly built patio in front of Parker’s Bistro.

Outdoor dining areas were part of what transformed Phillips Avenue in the past decade, he said. Parker’s and Wiley’s are the only two restaurants on Main, but Smith thinks that will change.

Parker’s expanded its outdoor seating from three tables to nine. Owner Stacy Newcomb-Weiland said they used to lose business in the summer because they didn’t have a patio. It was full Thursday night when they first unveiled the patio.

“It makes Main Avenue a much more attractive place,” she said.

The average vehicle on Main is traveling almost 10 mph over the posted speed limit. Smith said that does not go hand in hand with a pedestrian-friendly environment.

But people are adapting quickly to the change, said Mark Cotter, the city’s director of public works. The buffers are meant to keep pedestrians safer, and the narrower road and angled parking is expected to slow traffic.